Fade to Blue
by American-Pisces
Summary: Sticks and stones may break bones, but words can easily dig in deeper and fester like pure poison. Prussia knows this all too well, but what will he do when an old acquaintance comes knocking during a dark and rainy evening?


_Notes: Nachzehrer- a German mythological creature that lives after death and finds its family members to eat. I changed it to fit a little better in this story. For more info check out the Wikipedia article.  
Also I'm so sorry for being gone so long! School hit me like a semi-truck, I'll try to write stories in between my shifts at work and school work. Expect tons of uploads over winter break. Xoxo- Silver  
-_

Words swam around in his head, creating a dark vortex of thoughts and emotions that tugged on his heart strings. His chest ached, as if his heart itself was hurting from the mantra of words that were stuck on a constant loop. Mentally, he felt like he was drowning and the surface was just barely out of his reach. Physically, he appeared to be just pacing around in his room as the thunder danced outside his window with the lighting.

" _You're not even a nation anymore."_

" _You aren't needed here."_

" _Germany is a grown up now, he can handle it."_

He could tone the other nations out, but the loudest words in his mind were the ones that almost tore his heart out.

" _Bruder, just go home. You're being a nuisance."_

Just repeating them to himself forced the silver-haired man to sit on the edge of his bed biting his lip. Ruby eyes stared into the ground as if somehow it could make all the pain go away.

"So not awesome…"

He refused to say it aloud, even to the listening walls of the empty house, but it hurt him more than anything else to hear West tell him to leave. It wasn't his fault that he had to be loud to stay in the forefront of people's minds. He didn't want to be… no, it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to let it happen.

"I'm too awesome to go anywhere. They will just have to continue seeing how awesome I am!"

Prussia looked around the room trying to keep his normally obnoxious and lopsided grin on his face, but the emptiness of the room wiped the grin right off his face. Running his hands through his hair in frustration, Prussia flopped backwards on the bed and stared at the ceiling. The storm raged outside, but it was all too quiet inside.

"I'm sorry Ol' Fritz… I did everything I could… I promise…"

If anyone were to see him, he would deny any trace of the tears that began to slowly run down his cheeks. Being alone in the large dark house was the last thing Prussia wanted. It let his mind wander to "unawesome" thoughts. Wiping his eyes of the totally non-existent tears, Prussia sat up and walked towards the kitchen.

"It isn't fitting for someone as awesome as me to sit around like that. Beer can solve this. Beer solves everything!"

The stairs creaked under his feet, but in the corners of his mind, that was a grounding feeling. A reassurance that he was still there, still alive.

"I won't disappear like they did. I'm more awesome…"

He shook his head and took a deep breath as he swung the fridge open to grab a beer. He didn't need to hesitate. He was positive he wasn't going to disappear anytime soon. He would make sure of it, he mentally swore this to himself as the ice cold beer slid down his throat and his fingers toyed with the Iron Cross that laid in the hollow of his neck.

"Königreich Preußen, we need to talk."

Prussia unceremoniously choked on his beer and turned around quickly to see- nothing. The kitchen behind him was empty… but he swore he heard someone say his name… not just his name, but his old name. Prussia narrowed his eyes and closed the fridge.

"I can't be going crazy and hearing things. I'm too awesome for all that."

"I see you're still calling yourself awesome to hide the fact you're scared."

He whirled around to catch whoever decided to play tricks on him. Instead of a fellow nation, Prussia came face to face with the figure of a man, but he seemed to be covered in shadows. As if the light stayed away from him entirely.

"Oh. It's you again." Prussia leaned against the counter and sipped his beer as his eyes studied the figure. This was one of the many reasons he hated being alone. He always appeared to the Prussian and stated the same thing over and over again.

"You know you're time is coming. I know you don't want to hear it." His voice floated through the air towards Prussia, soft and sincere.

"I'm too awesome to leave. You're wasting your time, _nachzehrer_. I won't go with you, I still have too much to do here."

The figure stepped closer as a sudden wind blew through the house causing Prussia to shield his eyes. As the ex-nation carefully opened his eyes he looked down to see an all too recognizable figure staring up at him with light blue eyes.

"Now you're just playing dirty." The venom in the Prussian's voice caused the shadowy boy to flinch.

" _Bruder,_ just come with me. Vati is waiting for you as well. You're just hurting here."

Prussia snorted and crossed his arms, careful not to spill a drop of his precious beer.

"No. I'm fine here, I'm staying. I belong here," Prussia hesitated for a second and quietly added, "...sorry that you can't be here too."

The shadowy boy reached out a small hand and gently touched Prussia's leg as he finished his sentence.

"I don't blame you, just so you know. Why won't you come with me? It won't hurt."

Prussia bit his lip and pried his eyes away from the light blue eyes and sincere tone that tugged at his heartstrings. The boy's words stabbed him worse than any sword. Even if he didn't blame Prussia, the feelings of self-loathing and regret still were there after all this time.

"I can't leave West. H-he still needs me."

The boy retracted his hand and moved so their eyes met again. He didn't want to be rude or pressure the Prussian into following him home.

"I see. I can't force you to leave, but you know it will happen one day. It will all just fade to black."

Prussia put his beer down and stared the boy down, red eyes glinting in defiance just like the days of old.

"Listen here Holy Rome, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Unless the apocalypse unawesomely happens overnight, I'll still be here for West. Now go home."

Prussia waited until all traces of the boy left the room before he let out a shaky exhale.

' _Too close. He got way too close.'_

Composing himself quickly, he grabbed his beer and finished it off in a final swig before tossing it into the trash and muttering.

"If anything I'll fade to blue. Prussian blue."


End file.
